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Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Cheesy Asparagus Potato Tart #FoodieExtravaganza

This cheesy asparagus potato tart takes three of my favorite
things – crisp puff pastry, cheesy mashed potatoes made with creamy yogurt, and
fresh asparagus – and turns them into so much more than the sum of three parts.

I’ve been making variations on this recipe since Jamie
Oliver’s Jamie at Home* was first published in the UK, circa 2008. If I remember
correctly, his tart calls for cream and is baked up in a shortcrust. Or maybe phyllo
pastry. Possibly it had different cheeses. It’s been a long time!

But like any good quiche recipe, this cheesy asparagus potato
tart can also be adapted to use what you have on hand. As long as there are
potatoes and cheese, it’s all good. And I prefer yogurt or sour cream in place
of the rich cream anyway. Those add a little welcome tang.

Cheesy Asparagus Potato Tart

Adapted from Jamie at Home* this cheesy asparagus potato tart
has been a family favorite for years with its puff pastry crust, savory potato
filling and fresh asparagus topping.

If you can’t find nice asparagus in your local market, substitute green beans, preferable those fine green beans they call haricots verts très fine in France. I’ve used them instead of asparagus a couple of times and the tart is just as pretty and still fabulously tasty. Failing that, use normal green beans and cut them on an angle before blanching.

Method
Bring a pot of water to the boil and add a teaspoon of fine
sea salt. Fill a bowl with cold water and some ice and set aside.
Cut the woody ends off of the asparagus with a sharp knife
and pop them into the boiling water and set a timer for 3 or 4 minutes. Three if
the asparagus are thin ones, four if they are thicker.

Peel your potatoes and cut them into chunks.

When the time
goes off, remove the asparagus from the pot with a slotted spoon and put them in
a colander. Rinse them with cool tap water then tip them into the ice water bowl. Once they are well chilled, drain and dry the asparagus on a clean towel or paper towels.

Gently lower your potatoes into the pot of salted water and bring it
back to a low boil. Cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until tender.

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and line the bottom of
your 9 in or 23cm tart pan with a circle of baking parchment. Unroll your puff pastry and
line the tart pan with it. Put the tart pan in the refrigerator to chill until
you are ready to fill it.

When the potatoes are done, mash them until they are
relatively lump-free. Fold in the cold yogurt and stir till combined.

Now add in the cheese and stir well again. Taste the
potatoes and sprinkle on a little more salt if needed, along with a few
generous grinds of fresh black pepper. I usually add about a 1/2 teaspoon fine
sea salt but if your cheese is pretty salty, that might not be necessary.

By this time your potatoes should have cooled off
considerably from all the additions and the stirring. We don’t want them to be
so hot because then they would cook the eggs on contact. If they are just warm,
proceed. Otherwise stir a few more times to help them cool.

Add the eggs one at time, stirring till well combined with
each addition.

Spoon the filling into the chilled puff pastry crust and smooth out the top.

Cover the top of the cheesy potato filling with the blanched
asparagus.

Fold the edge of the crust under itself, if there is any hanging out.

If your tart pan has a removable bottom, put the tart pan on
larger pan and put them both into the oven. If not, put the tart pan straight
into the preheated oven. I like to use one with a removable bottom because it's prettier on the serving platter without the pan.

Turn the oven down to 375°F or 190°C. Bake the tart for
about 30-35 minutes or until the crust is puffy and golden and the center is
just set. A tiny wiggle is okay as that will set when it cools.

Leave to rest on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before cutting and
serving. Use a serrated knife or even some kitchen scissors to cut through the
asparagus on top before cutting down through the tart below. A dull knife will
just push the asparagus into the cheesy potato filling.

This cheesy asparagus potato tart can also be served at room
temperature.

Enjoy!

This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is sharing recipes with pastry. Many thanks to our host, Caroline from Caroline's Cooking for the theme and her behind the scenes work. Check out all the great recipes below:

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays by posting delicious recipes your family will love. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a home cook looking for tasty recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

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Cooking for people I love, creating deliciousness out of fresh ingredients, browsing through cookbooks for inspiration, perusing grocery shelves for choice items and writing about my expat life enriched by food. That's what I do here.